Miriam: Guingona not required to be impartial during ‘pork’ probe

Heads of Senate committees like Senator Teofisto Guingona III are not required to be impartial during congressional inquiries, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago said Thursday.

Days after Senator Jinggoy Estrada called out Guingona, who chairs the blue ribbon committee, for supposedly prejudging the Senate probe on the pork barrel scam, Santiago said senators do not need to be completely neutral when attending inquiries in aid of legislation.

“The question there is: are the chairs of these committees and these members required to have the objective neutrality of an impartial judge? Answer, no, because you are not judges of law or justice,” Santiago told reporters at a press briefing.

She added that politics is bound to “always intrude” during a Senate hearing, which she described as a “political proceeding.”

“It is not a court proceeding. It is not a judicial proceeding. We are not required to have open minds. We can close our minds as fast as we want,” Santiago said.

Last Monday, Estrada openly criticized Guingona for supposedly prejudging his involvement in the alleged pork barrel scam.

In response, Guingona said he never intended to prejudge Estrada, and maintained that he has never ascribed guilt to any of his colleagues.

'Bully' witnesses

Santiago further said that senators are even allowed to “bully” witnesses during Senate hearings, because they are not covered by the rules of court.

“You can harass the witness. You can bully the witness. There can be no objection, unless you are going out of bounds by calling him unbearable names,” she said.

The feisty lawmaker likewise rejected Senator Vicente "Tito" Sotto III's proposal to let the Senate ethics committee handle issues on senators allegedly involved in the pork barrel scam.

“If you have something as hot as the pork barrel issue and involving a lot of senators, it is best it is given to the blue ribbon," she said.

Senate President Franklin Drilon earlier said he would rather focus on lawmaking than conducting an ethics probe on senators.

Aside from Estrada, Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. and Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile are also facing plunder complaintss before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly pocketing millions in kickbacks from the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam.

The Senate has yet to convene its ethics panel despite the controversies involving its members. — KBK, GMA News